Come again to San Francisco: The Metropolis wants you now
Time to get out of the house. The city was lonely and sad without us.
There is no denying that it was a tragic and challenging year. We are indebted to the frontline workers who have never been able to stay home. There really are no words for the dead and disenfranchised who carried the brunt of the pandemic. But now, San Francisco is about to open its doors fully again. We have all done a great job following the protocols, protecting one another and making our city one of the most successful battlefields in the COVID war.
We survived the worst and emerged with a legitimate chance of herd immunity. Congratulations on a good job, citizen. Now put on hiking shoes and don’t forget your wallet. The world’s most beautiful city needs crowded streets and cultural DNA to thrive.
Me? It feels like I’m winning the San Francisco re-entry contest.
For well over a month, your loyal Examiner correspondent has lived like in the old days, making his way to our office in the financial district every day to do my newspaper duties. I shop inside. Meet friends after work. Don’t even ask about my dining escapades. (Hint: Dim Sum!)
It’s been a fabulous trip, somehow back to the future. To help you prepare for the reopening this Tuesday, here are some of my post-pandemic observations for those who are still suffering from a touch of #COVIDCave flu.
A couple of things to consider:
The water is fine. Downtown San Francisco is doing reasonably well, despite reports to the contrary. A few weeks ago, I felt like the last man on earth to emerge from an empty BART car to ride up an escalator on eerily deserted streets save for wind-blown garbage and besieged homeless people. But that is starting to change. More people come back every day. You may be excited to work from home at the Sunset or San Leandro, but now is the time to leave. Don’t be the last on the bus.
Homelessness stays the same. As usual, the homeless situation in the mid-market area is dire, but frankly, it’s not much different from days before the pandemic. The same people who suffer on the street without hardened office workers to treat them like the invisible mob. The problems are persistent and clear, but we know that. We need to fix this. But further down Market Street, in the towering canyons of the Financial District, I’m happy to report that the local business district workers keep things tidy and reopen shops and restaurants on a regular basis.
The neighborhoods survived. I recently drove my college-aged son and showed him the famous neighborhoods of San Francisco. From the die-hard Bayview District in the southeast to the chic Seacliff in the northwest, The City’s iconic neighborhoods held out a potential knockout blow and held out. At the windy summit of Bernal Heights, hikers have emerged for a ride on the largest swing in town. Cortland Avenue looks alive, and guests return to the neighborhood’s popular Wild Side West Saloon. Same story in the Mission where Dolores Beach looked like Coney Island on a sunny afternoon recently. A laughing couple having a drink in an open window in The Castro’s Moby Dick. Reopening of shops in Haight, Avenues and Marina. Golfers practice teeing off over the cliff at Lincoln Park’s majestic 17th hole.
These were all mental snapshots we took that day as I explained San Francisco’s strength to my son, a native Emperor of Geary. “San Francisco is a patchwork of neighborhoods,” I heard myself say. “And everyone represents their own village with a main street, favorite shops, churches and so on. Connect them all together and you have the greatest city in the world, boy. “
Sheboygan rules. You already know this. But I wanted to remind everyone of it. There is nothing like a Polish dog at a Giants game. Except of course a loaded Sheboygan with extra mustard. Had the pleasure of spending the night at the ballpark last month celebrating Willie May’s 90th birthday with a few thousand of his ardent suitors. Well, I was happy for Say Hey Kid, but I was happier for myself … after devouring a six-pound sausage. The Giants are legitimate contenders, and we should all be hungry to get back to the ballpark.
The bickering must stop. As we crawled out of the pandemic cocoon, it was sad to see the incessant bickering and posing over something as positive as “Safe Streets”. Some major arteries – notably JFK and the Great Highway – were closed during the pandemic to provide a safe place for caged residents of the city to relax. Now a full-blown street fight has broken out over how and why the closings could or should continue. Let’s take a deep breath and check our pulse. San Francisco is facing an existential crisis, struggling with a paralyzed economy, major quality of life issues, barriers to small business and a perceived black eye because carpet excavators left the city during the plague. Let’s stop arguing about closed streets where kids can rollerblade and couples can go hand in hand. There are compelling arguments on both sides of this issue, but well-intentioned road closures are not priority or urgent. Get the discussion around the table and take in the real problems. Start by creating legitimate mental health facilities where the city’s most troubled residents can find beds and long-term rehabilitation and treatment.
Chinatown needs us. One neighborhood that has not recovered is Chinatown. While the streets of North Beach start to hum again, Chinatown remains a ghost town to some extent. There are signs of life and mahjong games are back in full swing in the neighborhood Portsmouth Square Park. It’s the restaurants that I worry about, and we risk losing some of San Francisco’s most popular eateries. I am happy to report that lunch in the R&G Lounge is still delicious. And the people in the House of Nanking haven’t changed a bit. Eating alone for lunch the other day, a family of tourists came in and sat next to me. After the mother started asking for something without cornstarch, the waitress intervened and put the problem off by explaining that there would be a special chicken and shrimp dish that the cook would whip up in no time. No discussion, no discussion, just telling customers how to proceed. On the way out, I explained to the amazed group that they had just had a unique moment in San Francisco. And they should feel blessed.
That’s it for now, dear readers. I can report from the newsroom that The San Francisco Examiner is also alive. And it builds up and reinvents itself, in step with its eponymous city. Join us on this journey of discovery as we hope to use common sense to find solutions to the myriad problems of our beloved hometown.
We’re here to help the city.
Al Saracevic is the Director of News and Sports at The Examiner. Reach him at asaracevic@sfexaminer.com.
